Inclusion or Exclusion? The Spatial Habitus of Rural Gentrifiers

Kyra Tomay and Viktor Berger
Additional contact information
Kyra Tomay: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Pécs, Hungary
Viktor Berger: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Pécs, Hungary

Social Inclusion, 2024, vol. 12

Abstract: Several rural areas all over the world have experienced the inflow of the urban better‐off. This rural gentrification takes various temporary and permanent forms, i.e., lifestyle migration, second‐home ownership, or short‐term visitors. Scholarly interest in rural gentrification is evidenced by the growing body of literature. Based on 105 semi‐structured in‐depth interviews conducted in two rural areas in Hungary, this article aims to explore the perceptions, motivations, preferences, and lived experiences of rural newcomers, their position within the community, as well as processes of inclusion and exclusion. We rely on Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of habitus and argue that it includes distinct spatial dispositions forming a “spatial habitus.” The interviews show that the middle‐class rural gentrifiers’ (spatial) habitus is entangled with their cultural capital and represents a mixture of urban and “ruralising” dispositions. Their spatial practices are interpreted as the result of middle‐class (spatial) habitus and middle‐class symbolic distinction. At the same time, middle‐class rural gentrifiers are active local agents who defy common notions of newcomers having to integrate into their communities of choice.

Keywords: Bourdieu; gentrification; Hungary; rural gentrification; spatial dispositions; spatial habitus (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/7787 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:socinc:v12:y:2024:a:7787

DOI: 10.17645/si.7787

Access Statistics for this article

Social Inclusion is currently edited by Mariana Pires

More articles in Social Inclusion from Cogitatio Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by António Vieira () and IT Department ().